Bharat Petroleum Corporation Share price and Fundamental Analysis

Company History

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) with the Government of India holding 52.98% stake as on 31 March, 2023. The Corporation operates in the petroleum industry in India. The Corporation is engaged in the business of refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products. It has refineries at Mumbai, Bina and Kochi, LPG bottling plants and Lube blending plants at various locations. The Corporation's marketing infrastructure includes vast network of Installations, Depots, Retail Outlets, Aviation Fuelling Stations and LPG distributors.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) was incorporated on November 03, 1952 as a Private Limited Company with the name 'Burmah Shell Refineries Limited'. The Company began their work on the Marshland of Trombay at Bombay. The refinery on 454 acres of land at Village Mahul went on-stream on 30th January 1955, one year ahead of schedule. In January 24, 1976, Burmah Shell Group of Companies was taken over by the Government of India (GoI) to form Bharat Refineries Limited. In August 1, 1977, the Company was renamed as Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. The Company was also the first refinery to process newly found indigenous crude (Bombay High), in the country.

During the year 2001-02, the Company commissioned the Gas Turbine and Heat Recovery Steam Generator Project at a cost of Rs.1750 million. Refinery Modernization Project was being implemented at a cost of Rs 18,310 million. This project besides improve distillate yield and energy efficiency of the company. The company had Allied Retail Business (ARB) also apart from the regular business, making them not only the largest non-fuel revenue generator in the oil industry, but also amongst the leading retail networks in the country, offering a basket of services ranging from C-stores, Quick Service Restaurants to financial and travel related services.

The total of 8 numbers of In & Out convenience stores made up the 'millionaire club' by clocking average sales of Rs 1 million per month. Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) continued by the company to be a focus area in the ARB initiative under the alliance management strategy. The 222 ATMs in the network are the result of alliances with 22 banks. Given the rapid growth of the travel industry in the country and especially personal travel, the company launched 'In & Out e-Traveller', a one-stop facility for all travel and hospitality needs in during year of 2006-07. The In & Out eTraveller is an e-ticketing / e-booking facility for rail, air and bus tickets and hotel accommodation, brought through a web of alliances with best in breed travel service providers.

During the year 2009-10, the Mumbai refinery processed the Nigerian crude oil - Agbami for the first time. The company started operations at its Bina refinery in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh by launching their crude distillation unit, or CDU. The CDU at Bina was commissioned on June 29, 2010. Kerosene and cooking gas have been despatched to the marketing terminal. An oil refinery's CDU is the main unit where crude is separated into different petroleum products.

In August 2010, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gujarat State Petroleum Corp Ltd to form a joint venture for trunk gas pipelines. In February 2011, the company signed an initial agreement with the provincial government of Rajasthan to sell fuel products from the state's proposed refinery. The company will sell at least 75% of the volume of the products from the proposed Rajasthan refinery under the agreement.

In July 2011, the company sold a rare naphtha cargo from Haldia to Vitol at steep discounts of $63.00 a tonne to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, and the refiner may have more of such cargoes for sale.

In 2011, tyre manufacturer Goodyear India entered into an agreement with PSU major Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd to open tyre care shops at some of their petrol pumps. BPCL discovers of oil and gas in Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, Brazil.

In 2012 -BPCL's another major appraisal success in Offshore Mozambique for BPRL. BPCL also conducts Successful Flow Test Offshore Mozambique. BPCL invests Rs 75 cr to set up 22 kV substation at Kochi Refinery. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., has signed an MOU with LG Chem South Korea for a Joint Venture to set up a petrochemical plant adjacent to its Kochi Refinery Complex. The company makes discovery of hydrocarbons in Espirito Santo Bash, Offshore Brazil and Cauvery Onland in Tamil Nadu. The company signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kerala government. Following the development, the state government would extend tax deferments to BPCL's Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP) and petrochemical complex. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is in plans for investments of up to Rs 45,000 crore by 2017 towards upstream projects as well as downstream expansion. BPCL discovers New oil in the deep water of Sergipe - Alagoas Basin, Brasil

In 2013, Petrobras completes formation test in Farfan area in Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, Brazil. BPRL announces new natural gas discovery in offshore Mozambique. Bharat gas introduces IVRS to book gas refill services. BPCL begins IVRS refill booking system in Kerala

In 2014, Bharat Petroleum - BPRL announces Increase in Recoverable Natural Gas Resources in Mozambique. Gas Discovery in Cauvery Basin, India by ONGC - BPRL Consortium.

In 2015, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) received approval from Environment Ministry for Rs 4,588 crore expansion at its refinery facility. BPCL, along with GAIL Gas, a 100% subsidiary of GAIL India will jointly develop the City Gas Distribution Network (CGD Network) in Haridwar district. BPCL also commissions a new art Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) in Mumbai.

On 29 May 2015, BPCL announced that it had acquired additional 1.99 crore equity shares of Petronet CCK Limited (PCCKL) constituting 19.97% of the paid-up capital of PCCKL from a financial investor of PCCKL. Post the acquisition of additional shares, BPCL's holding in PCCKL went up to 68.97%.

In November 2015, a consortium of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and GAIL Gas Ltd was awarded the authorization for laying, building, operating and expanding of a City Gas Distribution Network (CGD Network) in the Geographical Area of Haridwar district by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board established under the PNGRB Act, 2006.

On 31 December 2015, BPCL announced that it had entered into a binding Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) for the procurement of an additional 0.1 MMTPA of RLNG with effect from January 2016.

On 18 February 2016, BPCL announced that it had purchased 50% of financial institutions' holding in Sabarmati Gas (SGL), thereby raising its stake in SGL to 49.9%. SGL is a city gas distribution company involved in the supply of CNG to the transport segment and PNG to consumers in the domestic, commercial and industrial segments.

On 26 May 2016, the Board of Directors of BPCL recommended the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.

On 29 July 2016, BPCL announced that it had entered into an agreement for acquiring 21% stake in the share capital of FINO PayTech Limited for a consideration of Rs 251 crore in an all cash deal. FINO PayTech is a payments technology solutions provider to banks, financial institutions and MFIs.

Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL), a 100% subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and its exploration and production arm, along with Oil India Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited, acting jointly as the Indian Consortium, through a joint venture company formed by their wholly owned subsidiaries in Singapore, completed on 5 October 2016 two transactions, viz. acquisition of 23.9% shares of the charter capital of JSC Vankorneft, a company organised under the laws of the Russian Federation, which is the owner of Vankor and North Vankor Field licenses, from Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft), a National Oil Company of Russia; and acquisition of 29.9% of the participatory share in charter capital of LLC Taas Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha (TYNGD), from LLC RN Razvedka I Dobycha, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rosneft. TYNGD which has onshore fields in East Siberia is currently producing about 20,000 bopd which is expected to be ramped up to about 100,000 bopd by 2021.

In November 2016, a consortium of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and GAIL Gas Ltd was awarded the authorization for laying, building, operating and expanding of a City Gas Distribution Network (CGD Network) in the Geographical Area of North Goa in the state of Goa by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board established under the PNGRB Act, 2006. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited signed a Consortium Agreement on 7 December 2016 to carry out pre-project activities for setting up of a West Coast Refinery & Petrochemical project of approximately 60 MMTPA capacity in Maharashtra through a Joint Venture Company.

On 16 January 2017, the Board of Directors of BPCL gave in-principle approval for the merger of Petronet CCK Ltd. (PCCKL), a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL, with BPCL. PCCKL owns and operates 292 Km long multi product Kochi-Coimbatore-Karur pipeline with a throughput capacity of 3.3 MMTPA which is used for evacuation of BPCL's Kochi Refinery products.

The Board of Directors of BPCL at its meeting held on 29 May 2017 recommended issue of fully paid bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2.

On 25 September 2017, Asia's largest single mounded LPG storage facility was inaugurated at BPCL's Kochi refinery. The facility was constructed at an investment of Rs 170 crore as part of the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project of BPCL at Kochi Refinery.

During the year 2017-18, the Government of India disinvested 1,35,05,341 equity shares in favour of Bharat 22 ETF (an exchange traded fund inclusive of PSU stocks). Consequently, the holding of the President of India in the equity share capital was reduced to 54.31% from 54.93%.

Capital Expenditure (before Cenvat/Tax Credit) including investments in JVCs and exploration through a Subsidiary Company during the year 2017-18 amounted to Rs 8,997.76 crore.

The Group consists of 5 Indian subsidiaries and 6 foreign subsidiaries as on 31st March 2018. . Further, the Company has 23 Joint Venture Companies and Associate companies.

During 2019, the Company installed Gasoline Hydro Treatment Unit (GTU) project at Mumbai Refinery to produce 100% BS VI MS (Motor Spirit), which costed Rs. 554 crore and got completed in June, 2019. In August 2020, it completed construction of a new rail fed POL terminal at Pune with approximately 40 TKL storage tanks, 12 bay tank lorry gantry, full rake single spur railway siding and associated firefighting facilities, which costed Rs. 282.64 Crores. It set up a coastal terminal and railway siding at Krishnapatnam Port, costing Rs. 580.20 Crores and achieved a physical progress of 33.50% as on 31 March, 2020.

During the year 2019-20, BPCL commissioned 10 grid interactive solar plants in 5 installations / depots and 5 LPG plants, adding a total capacity of 4.12 MW. These plants are being developed as pilot projects, where rooftop solar plants with battery storage are being installed. Rooftop solar units were also installed in 974 retail outlets in the year 2019-20, taking the number of total outlets to 2285.

During the FY2019, the Government of India disinvested 2,19,99,057 equity shares in favour of Bharat 22 ETF (an exchange traded fund comprising of PSU stocks). Consequently, the holding of the President of India in the equity share capital was reduced to 53.29% as at 31st March, 2019 from 54.31%.

Capital Expenditure, including investments in JVCs, Bharat Gas Resources Limited (BGRL) and exploration through a Subsidiary company during the year 2018-19 amounted to Rs 10,992.80 crore.

The Group consists of 5 Indian subsidiaries and 6 foreign subsidiaries as on 31st March 2019. Further, the Company has 22 Joint Venture Companies and Associate Companies.

During the FY2020, the Government of India disinvested 69,12,370 equity shares in favour of Bharat 22 ETF (an exchange traded fund comprising of PSU stocks). Consequently, the holding of the President of India in the equity share capital was reduced to 52.98% as at 31st March, 2020 from 53.29%.

The Government of India has on 20th November, 2019 accorded in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment of Government's shareholding in BPCL excluding BPCL's shareholding in Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL). Further, as per the above approval, BPCL's shareholding in NRL has to be divested to a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) operating in Oil and Gas sector along with transfer of management control. Action in this regard has been initiated..

During the year 2019-20, subsequent to conversion of warrants of Rs 650 Crore in Bharat Oman Refineries Limited (BORL) into equity shares, the Company's shareholding in BORL increased from existing 50% to 63.38% on 31st March, 2020.

On 20th November, 2019, BPCL divested its entire 61.65% stake in Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) in Assam to a consortium of Oil India Limited (OIL) and Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Government of Assam for Rs 9,876 crore. BPCL's shareholding in NRL had to be divested to a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) operating in Oil and Gas sector along with transfer of management control. A Sale Purchase Agreement was signed on 25 March, 2021 between BPCL and the Consortium for Sale, at a consideration of Rs. 9376 crores. The consideration was received on 25 March, 2021 and the shares were transferred to OIL & EIL on 26 March, 2021. The remaining shares were transferred to GOA upon receipt of the consideration of Rs 5000 crores on 26 March, 2021.

The Company had 4 subsidiaries and 22 joint venture companies and associate companies as at March 31, 2021.

In 2021, the Corporation started commercial production of their Propylene Derivative Petrochemical project, at Kochi Refinery. It commissioned 2,444 new Retail Outlets (ROs) during the year 2020-21. It completed the Haldia LPG Import Terminal and Pune Haveli POL Terminal project which further bolstered their marketing infrastructure.

During the year 2022, BPCL acquired 36.62% of shares from OQ S.A.O.C, Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd. (BORL), and made BORL a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL. Bharat Oman Refineries Limited, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of BPCL, got merged Scheme of Amalgamation with BPCL with effect from July 1, 2022.

The Company completed the re-routing of Mumbai-Manmad Pipeline (48.5 km) during the year and has commissioned the pipeline in April, 2021 in reducing the risk associated with products dispatched from Mumbai Refinery. In October 2021, it commissioned 18-inch-diameter 355-km-long Bina-Panki Multi-Product Pipeline, with a throughput capacity of 3.5 MMTPA.

In July 2022, the Company enhanced production capacity of Lube Oil Base Stock (LOBS) from 300 thousand metric tonnes per annum (TMTPA) to 450 TMTPA at Mumbai Refinery, which costed Rs. 614 crore. In Dec'21, additional tankage of 1,46,000 KL and full-rake tank wagon loading gantry with associated facilities were commissioned along with Bina-Panki Pipeline, which costed Rs. 254.54 crore. It commissioned and constructed additional mounded storage vessels of 8,250 MT, which costed approx. Rs. 266 crore at LPG bottling plants in Jhansi, Bhatinda, Pune, Patna and Bhitoni.

The Company's flexibility of refining operations increased by introducing 5 new additional crude oils during FY 2022-23. 3 noteworthy projects, viz. installation of a 1.5 MMTPA Kerosene Hydrotreater Unit (KHT), capacity enhancement of Lube Oil Base Stock (LOBS) unit from 300 kilotonnes per annum (KTPA) to 450 KTPA and installation of a De-Aromatized Solvent (DAS) column, were commissioned in Mumbai Refinery (MR) during the FY 2022-23. To enhance the safety and security of its cross-country pipeline network, Fibre Optics based Pipeline Intrusion Detection Systems (PIDS) was commissioned for Mumbai-Kota Pipeline section. The LOBS product portfolio was increased with the launch of a new specialty product 'D40', an industrial solvent. Superabsorbent Polymer (SAP), a new product from the same complex, was launched in July 2022. BR dispatched its first batch of low pour point diesel for use in cold regions by Indian Army. BR also commenced Mineral Turpentine Oil (MTO) transportation via Bina-Kota-Bijwasan Pipeline for the first time, thereby reducing transportation cost.

During 2022-23, the Company commissioned the production capacity of Lube Oil Base Stock (LOBS) from 300 TMTPA to 450 TMTPA at Mumbai Refinery which costed Rs 614 Crores in Jul' 22. It installed and commissioned New Kerosene Hydrotreater (KHT) of 1.5 MMTPA capacity, integrated with existing Diesel Hydrotreater (DHT), at Mumbai Refinery costing Rs 667.15 Crores in Dec' 22. The Coastal Terminal with Railway Siding at Krishnapatnam Port, in Andhra Pradesh was commissioned costing Rs 580.20 Crores in Dec' 22. The Construction of a New Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants (POL) Depot at Radhanagar (Bokaro), Jharkhand with storage capacity of 22 TKL along with railway siding was commissioned costing Rs 247.17 crore in Mar' 23.